Blog Central

New York Rangers center Derek Stepan remains day-to-day with a foot contusion sustained while blocking a shot. He was held off the ice Monday prior to the Rangers' preseason opener against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden.

Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos did not play in a scrimmage Sunday and is questionable to participate Monday, according to Erik Erlendsson of The Tampa Tribune.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the plan is to take it easy with Stamkos, who broke his leg in a game against the Boston Bruins last November and had a procedure last month to remove a screw in his surgically repaired right tibia bone.

Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan left a training camp scrimmage Sunday in the second period following a collision with center Kyle Turris behind the net. He was kept off the ice for precautionary reasons and will not play in either of the Senators' preseason games Monday against the New York Islanders in St. John's, Newfoundland, according to the Ottawa Sun.

"It was a broken play," Ryan told the Senators website. "[Turris] was circling one way behind the net and I was circling the other. I think we both had a pretty good head of steam and never saw each other; just took it right in the chin a little bit. It's alarming, I guess, is the right word for it. They were very, very cautious with it and just said let's calm things down right away."

"When I talked to everybody real quickly they said it wasn't worth it to go back out in those conditions. Let's just call it a day and re-evaluate [Monday]."

A torn oblique muscle limited Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust to 52 games last season, but he's healthy and itching to get the 2014-15 season underway.

The 30-year-old scored six goals, seven assists and 121 penalty minutes during the regular season and two assists in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"I definitely want to keep building. Last year was tough with injuries. I want to try and stay injury-free," Prust told the Canadiens website on Sunday. "Stuff happens, though. Some things you can't control, but I want to get back to getting more ice time and being a bigger factor out there. I want to play well defensively, and get back to my game, the style that I've played for many years and for lots of different teams.

The San Jose Sharks have decided to move Brent Burns back to defense after playing forward last season, and Burns said Saturday he's fine with it.

"I feel confident I could get 30 goals playing forward, but I also love the challenge of playing D and playing more than 20 minutes a game," Burns told the Sharks website. "I love that challenge. I love being on the ice more. I think you control the game more as a defenseman than you do as a forward. It's hard. Obviously I like both and you have fun playing as a forward too."

"This is not a long-term thing,"’ coach Jon Cooper told The Tampa Tribune. "For us, his training camp started (with the prospect team) on Sept. 11. He played three games in the rookie tournament, and he’s grinded it out. He got nicked up a little bit, and the one thing is that, this is by no means serious. We expect he’ll be back next week at some point. ... It was a freak thing, so there is no alarm."

"If Johansen’s here, we may have [Jenner] on the wing but we'd still be trying him at center," coach Todd Richards told the Blue Jackets website Saturday. "You take a player like that, a fierce competitor ... I haven't seen him take a draw yet, but I bet he takes a draw like he plays a game. You better be ready."